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The family of a young woman who requested an abortion in El Salvador awaits justice
San Salvador, Mar 6 (EFE).- The family of Beatriz, a young woman who has already died and was prevented from terminating her pregnancy in 2013, awaits justice in the case of the Salvadoran woman who will be heard by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CorteIDH). ). “My sister is no longer here, but her fight continues and we as a family have retaken her and we will continue until justice is done for my sister so that no woman goes through what my sister had to go through again.” Beatriz’s brother identified only as Humberto said at a press conference. Humberto described his sister as a “fighter, determined woman, who always, despite the difficulties and obstacles in life, (…) always fought and moved on.” “My sister never gave up and that is what makes us as a family continue her fight,” he stressed. The young man assured that “nobody forced my sister” to make the decision to request to terminate her pregnancy. “She herself decided to confront the powers of the state,” he added. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented Beatriz’s case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CourtHR) in January last year, and this will be heard at a hearing to be held on March 22 and 23 in San José, Costa Rica. The young Salvadoran, who suffered from the chronic disease lupus, appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) of the Central American country, which denied her the abortion. She later gave birth to a girl by caesarean section, but the newborn she died because she had no brain. NGOs ALSO WAIT FOR JUSTICE The competing organizations also hope that the Inter-American Court “issues a sentence that condemns the Salvadoran State for violating the human rights of Beatriz”, who in 2011 gave birth to her first child and also suffered from hypertension and arthritis. Sara García, from the Citizen Association for the Decriminalization of Abortion, said that “we hope that the Salvadoran State is condemned, we hope that structural changes can be generated, that non-repetition measures can be generated (…) that the Salvadoran State will make full reparations for the family”. Marcela Martino, from the Center for Justice and International Law (Cejil), indicated that they want the sentence issued by the Inter-American Court “not only to imply reparation and recognition of what happened and that it implied the violation of Beatriz’s rights, but it will also imply measures that we hope will allow the removal of obstacles to access sexual and reproductive health in El Salvador”. “The organizations that accompany Beatriz’s family are hopeful that, with the decision taken, we can move towards a continent that guarantees the life and rights of all women to a greater extent,” she said. For her part, Fernanda Díaz de León, Ipas LAC (International Projects Assistance Services), indicated that “what the colligating organizations and Beatriz’s family hope for is the recognition that abortion services are essential services to preserve health and life of pregnant women and pregnant women”. “We hope that the human rights violations committed by a State that derive from the denial of abortion services will be recognized (…) we hope that precedents will be established to redress the victims of human rights violations in the context of this denial of services, when health and life are at risk,” he added. In El Salvador, women who experience pregnancy complications resulting in miscarriages and stillbirths are routinely suspected of having an abortion, which is prohibited in all circumstances, and are prosecuted on charges of aggravated homicide. (c) EFE Agency
